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It needs a Pokemon Go. I just got a Quest 2. $299, Apple quality. Works by itself or can plug in to a PC and be powered by its GPU and CPU. It's waiting for ne

It needs a Pokemon Go. I just got a Quest 2. $299, Apple quality. Works by itself or can plug in to a PC and be powered by its GPU and CPU. It's waiting for new experiences with mass appeal. Valve gave a Half Life incarnation.. it's waiting for the right new content. For creators, there's already amazing stuff like Tilt Brush. Part of the issue is that VR is great with super high resolution displays and 120Hz low latency simulation response. The hardware is still catching up to the dream, but it's a lot closer. It reminds me of the dream of the 1984 Macintosh or the NeXT cube, or the 1993 Newton. Software graphics rasterization on 8 MHz 68k / 20mhz ARM cpus.

AgentME 6y ago
I've had the original Vive and the Index since each of them came out, though I didn't regularly use them much until I got into VRChat. In a month I've already put more hours into VRChat specifically than the total I've done with other things in VR. I'm not exactly sure of its mass appeal, but it's definitely been the killer app for me and my friends. I've become somewhat convinced that the killer features of VR are in how it works for social games. The ability to socialize in 3d space with regular body language present (your head and hands are positionally tracked) is great. The sense of presence from being in an all-encompassing scene in VR makes your mind feel more involved in social situations compared to a standard voice call. Having positional audio and the ability to see where other people are looking makes it easier to follow the flow of conversations. Groups can smoothly reform and break apart into multiple separate conversations just as easily as they can in real life meatspace gatherings, which is something that's much less natural in voice calls.
- dougmwne 6y ago
  I agree that social is going to be the killer app for all the reasons you listed. I think the only missing piece is face and eye tracking so those cartoon avatars can have some emotionally relatable cartoon faces.
  - andybak 6y ago
    It actually surprises me how expressive just head and hand tracking can be. Just watched a friend do his stand-up debut in VR and I stopped seeing the avatar fairly quickly. I just saw him performing.
krm01 6y ago
I wonder though of this is the case. If we look at early PCs, they grew relatively fast. A big driver for that growth was digital spreadsheets. VR has been around for a while. Why hasn’t anyone built the software that skyrockets VR to the masses. Is it because it has no real value beyond entertainment? For example, for me, having a huge workspace with infinite amount of displays is the way to go. It would be a killer app. Its availabe today for Quest, but I still havent made the jump. The reason being is that we seem to get closer to Mixed Reality devices and THAT platform seems to have no-brainer killer apps. Including pokemon Go.
alonmower 6y ago
I bought the quest out of curiosity with low expectations. I’ve tried a few of the games, many of which were novelties but have been blown away by Eleven Table Tennis. It replicates maybe 98% of what it feels like to play ping pong and I’ve convinced at least five other friends and family to get a set so we can catch up, chat, and play some ping pong. I play it almost daily now and use it instead of phone calls to catch up with my dad.
- crazygringo 6y ago
  That's super interesting. Most sports require significant resistance, but ping pong is fairly unique in the ball being so light you really barely feel it. Plus whether you're holding a paddle or controller isn't super different. I'd never thought of trying that game but now it makes PERFECT sense. Thanks!
  - doomlaser 6y ago
    In the Quest 2 "welcome" app they give you a paddle and a ball, and it feels really cool to throw the ball and whack it. It also puts them on a virtual desk in front of you, and I was having so much fun I tried to rest my elbows on the desk. The immersion of VR is the most unique aspect of the platform.

AgentME 6y ago

I've had the original Vive and the Index since each of them came out, though I didn't regularly use them much until I got into VRChat. In a month I've already put more hours into VRChat specifically than the total I've done with other things in VR. I'm not exactly sure of its mass appeal, but it's definitely been the killer app for me and my friends. I've become somewhat convinced that the killer features of VR are in how it works for social games. The ability to socialize in 3d space with regular body language present (your head and hands are positionally tracked) is great. The sense of presence from being in an all-encompassing scene in VR makes your mind feel more involved in social situations compared to a standard voice call. Having positional audio and the ability to see where other people are looking makes it easier to follow the flow of conversations. Groups can smoothly reform and break apart into multiple separate conversations just as easily as they can in real life meatspace gatherings, which is something that's much less natural in voice calls.

dougmwne 6y ago
I agree that social is going to be the killer app for all the reasons you listed. I think the only missing piece is face and eye tracking so those cartoon avatars can have some emotionally relatable cartoon faces.
- andybak 6y ago
  It actually surprises me how expressive just head and hand tracking can be. Just watched a friend do his stand-up debut in VR and I stopped seeing the avatar fairly quickly. I just saw him performing.

krm01 6y ago

I wonder though of this is the case. If we look at early PCs, they grew relatively fast. A big driver for that growth was digital spreadsheets. VR has been around for a while. Why hasn’t anyone built the software that skyrockets VR to the masses. Is it because it has no real value beyond entertainment? For example, for me, having a huge workspace with infinite amount of displays is the way to go. It would be a killer app. Its availabe today for Quest, but I still havent made the jump. The reason being is that we seem to get closer to Mixed Reality devices and THAT platform seems to have no-brainer killer apps. Including pokemon Go.

alonmower 6y ago

I bought the quest out of curiosity with low expectations. I’ve tried a few of the games, many of which were novelties but have been blown away by Eleven Table Tennis. It replicates maybe 98% of what it feels like to play ping pong and I’ve convinced at least five other friends and family to get a set so we can catch up, chat, and play some ping pong. I play it almost daily now and use it instead of phone calls to catch up with my dad.

crazygringo 6y ago
That's super interesting. Most sports require significant resistance, but ping pong is fairly unique in the ball being so light you really barely feel it. Plus whether you're holding a paddle or controller isn't super different. I'd never thought of trying that game but now it makes PERFECT sense. Thanks!
- doomlaser 6y ago
  In the Quest 2 "welcome" app they give you a paddle and a ball, and it feels really cool to throw the ball and whack it. It also puts them on a virtual desk in front of you, and I was having so much fun I tried to rest my elbows on the desk. The immersion of VR is the most unique aspect of the platform.